Prince William has issued an urgent warning that one million species face extinction as he called for action and the world to make peace with nature.
The Prince of Wales’s speech was delivered virtually at the Leveraging Ambition for 30×30 and Beyond: The Road to CBD COP16 event on biodiversity that took place in New York.
Prince William, who is the Founder of the Earthshot Prize and President of United for Wildlife, opened the event with a video message but he was not in attendance personally.
It comes as Prince Harry is undertaking engagements in New York throughout this week.
Prince William has issued an urgent warning that one million species face extinction as he called for action and the world to make peace with nature.
Prince William said: “I am incredibly fortunate to have visited many places around our planet and witnessed the diversity of life and of species.
“Time and again, I have been humbled by the Earth’s extraordinary beauty and its resilience.
“But, the truth is, we are living at odds with the natural world, and it is buckling under the pressure of our actions.
“Today, 1 million species face extinction. And, the global loss of unique natural areas poses a grave threat to our climate, our clean air, our drinking water, and our health.
“The destruction of these precious ecosystems is quite simply, the most pressing existential threat we face.
“If we are to keep this planet liveable for our children and grandchildren, we must act urgently.
The Prince of Wales’s speech was delivered virtually at the Leveraging Ambition for 30×30 and Beyond: The Road to CBD COP16 event on biodiversity that took place in New York.
PA
“Thankfully, in 2022 the world adopted The Biodiversity Plan in Montreal and committed to transformative action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. But, we now have just five years to deliver on our collective promise.
“We must act to save our rivers, oceans, savannas, mangroves and forests, as well as the communities that protect and live alongside them.
“We must act with urgency to protect at least 30% of our land, inland waters, and ocean by 2030.
“That means ramping up international nature finance, realigning financial flows from destruction to regeneration, as well as rapidly expanding and improving critical protected and conserved areas.
“It means working with Indigenous peoples and local communities – as the traditional custodians of biodiversity – learning from their wisdom on how to live in harmony with nature. We must all ensure that they have resources and rights to preserve their territories.
“It means we must halt the unsustainable production and consumption of natural resources.
“And it means we must redirect harmful subsidies that are wreaking havoc on our natural world and invest in alternative solutions to damaging activities.
“It means change. I believe we can and must change our relationship with the natural world.
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Prince William is the Founder of the Earthshot Prize and President of United for Wildlife,
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“I am committed to doing my part through the United for Wildlife partnership, which is taking on the illegal wildlife trade, and through The Earthshot Prize, where we aim to nurture, accelerate and scale ground-breaking innovations that will repair and regenerate the planet whilst driving prosperity for all.
“I believe that if leaders worldwide commit to work together, accept that change is no longer a choice but an imperative, and join with businesses, communities, innovators and citizens to take bold, perhaps challenging and creative steps, we can meet our commitments to each other and the future generations.
“We are all in this together. We have the choice to change for our collective good.
“Let us make that choice today and finally, make peace with nature.”